Busskipper,
Thanks for the detailed itinerary! We too love Colorado, and were at Turquoise Lake just last June! We also were in Ouray in, I think, 2015 and drove the Million Dollar Highway. We also camped at a NFS campground (Big Cimarron Campground; no hookups)-- on August 31, we and our friends were literally the only people there, and it cooled down a LOT at night! You are right, it's a fantastic destination, and may just be our alternative plan. I am going to plug in some of your suggestions and see how it all works out.
Thanks so much for your thoughts.
Debbie